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My boyfriend and I, a young couple (early 20s) are considering moving but we can't decide where. Our first choice was Boston because we really like the idea of a relatively big city with a collegetown kind of feel, however the cost of living turned out to be a turnoff. We currently live in Ithaca, NY which is pretty much a safe and academically driven small city, so we would like to have these qualities in a bigger city with more night life and a bigger job market. We are looking for a relatively big city with relatively low crime and good enough higher education and job opportunities but with not that high of a cost of living. We also currently don't have a car so a city with good public transport would be good. Any suggestions? We also have a few specific questions:
Do you have any advice on where could someone live around the Boston area that wasn't too expensive and doesn't require a car?
We're considering Cleveland and Baltimore as two options. What are some good suburbs that we could live in around these areas? Which is better?
Any other places that we should be considering?
I think you are looking for something that doesn't exist. Any city with a good job market, night life, education opportunities, and public transportation is NOT going to be cheap....or if there are cheap areas, they are not going to be safe. You are going to have to pick and choose from your list what is most important to you and make some compromises if your budget isn't up for big city living.
Outside of Boston you can try Allston, Medford, Somerville, Arlington, Cambridge, Lowell, Waltham, Woburn and lot's in between. Allston is the best of the bunch if you want to feel like you live in the city. Arlington is a good blend of city/suburb with lot's of conveniences (dining, shopping, public transit) right on Mass Ave. Waltham might be the least expensive of the bunch and about a 20 minute commute into Boston. It's a good size town with plenty of dining and shopping and located just off the Mass Pike and a T line. You won't get that colleg town feel your looking for there, but nothing is too far away either.
Lowell is a college town, but it does have some sketchy parts to avoid. It's about 30 minutes north of Boston and large enough to sustain itself for all your needs.
Living within reasonable distance of Baltimore you could try Bethesda Md. It's a decent size city within commuting distance of DC. Safe community and lot's of job opportunities if you don't mind long commutes to either DC or Baltimore.
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